Rare Condition That Makes Boy’s Skin Orange When He Eats Carrots

A 3-year old boy in Britain has a rare condition that makes his skin color turn orange if he eats carrots or other vegetables.

Leo Barnett suffers from a rare condition known as hyper-beta carotenemia which means that he is not able to digest an enzyme known as carotene which gives color to carrots and other food items. This leads to a buildup of carotene in Leo's body which then turns his skin orange.

Leo's mother, Angie said that they initially attributed the problem to his poor health with Leo twice suffering from pneumonia and also recovering from swine flu. However when his skin color continued to remain orange, Leo's parents took him to a GP who recommended eliminating all orange food from his diet.

Doctors also found that Leo was lacking in a liver enzyme that converted carotene to vitamin A. "All the stuff that's really good for you, he can't eat. The only vegetable he can eat is cauliflower. It's going to be hard when he goes to school in September. I'll have to make packed lunches. He's old enough to understand he's not allowed certain things. He might have a tantrum but we always find something he can have", Angie said.



Source: Medindia